My Little Kurama: Battling the Darkness
by Fawx
Summary: Ponyland faces ecological crisis, and the only one who can save them is... Kurama?
1. Chapter 1

My Little Kurama: Battling the Darkness

Chapter One

* * *

"Kurama, there's a pony in the courtyard."  
In a well-ordered universe, there are rules and balances regarding the proper way to start a conversation. "There's a pony in the courtyard" brings conversation to a level that is terribly disconcerting before even having to say hello.

Kurama reflected on this and leaned away from his desk, shuffling through files in a quietly desperate attempt to distract himself from the question he inevitably had to ask.

"What?"

"Well, it's pastel, and it's got wings on, but it's a pony." Chuu shifted uncomfortably in front of the long desk where Kurama ran Gandara's affairs of state. Yomi may very well rule the place, but Kurama made sure the kingdom and its colonies ran like a finely tuned clock. Rarely anything got past his notice, so 'ponies with wings on,' were in the general area of miffed incredulity. Really, he had no time for pranks.

He stared hard at Chuu, who began to rock from one foot to the other.

"Look, it's like this. Me an' Jin an' Shishi were just sitting there, minding our own business-"

"You mean standing there guarding the alchemy tower like I ordered you to," Kurama interjected smoothly, turning back to his paperwork and keeping half an ear on the explanation.

"Yeah, exactly that. We were doing that and there's a flash of light, see, and then we all sort of got all 'what?' and Shishi started yelling and pointing and there was this pinky-blue thing in the courtyard. So we all went down-'

"Leaving your posts unmanned and the alchemy tower open for just anyone to walk into," Kurama murmured, dashing out lines on a page with red ink. Chuu winced at this but rallied.

"Yeah, so, we go down there and the pinky-blue thing is kind of this..." Chuu fumbled here, who was having an internal debate as to whether he was more distressed about telling Kurama that there was an unidentified creature in the palace, or that he was embarrassed over being the one grown demon having to tell the bossman about the moderately sparkly pink and blue winged pony from a magical land was demanding an audience.

"Er," he choked, looking from a disinterested Kurama to his shoes. "Well, anyway, her name's Firefly and she wants to talk to you."

Kurama carefully set down the document that had been taking up less of his attention than he'd wanted, clasped his hands together, and smiled across the desk at Chuu.

"The pink and blue pastel pony with wings on is named Firefly and she wants to talk to me?" He summarized, his voice at that level of sweet and interested that meant someone was likely to get drawn and quartered.

"Er... yes."

"The pink pony," Kurama said again, his voice now edged with what members of Gandara's army referred to in respectful and terrified terms as 'the Fox Tone,' "Would like to speak with me."

"Well," Chuu fumbled. Diplomacy wasn't his thing, honestly. He'd only been sent because Jin and Shishi insisted that he was the one least likely to get ripped to pieces and spread over some community co-op garden in the human world. Apparently, Kurama _liked_ him. This seemed, given the current circumstances, wrong. And it was wrong in any circumstances. Kurama didn't _like_ anybody. He'd stopped liking people at least eighty years past. Really, he'd been much nicer when he had been more human.

But, even in small amounts liquor made Chuu a brave demon, and he'd swigged half a bottle of his best before entering The Office.

"Actually," he said miserably, "she demanded it."

* * *

All was not well in Ponyland. Until recently, life had gone on as normal; the ponies lived and played their soft-cornered lives as they always did, joined usually by Spike and an assortment of the other inhabitants of Dream Castle and Flutter Valley. It had been Wind Whistler and Galaxy who first noticed that things weren't... quite right.

It was so subtle, at the beginning. The winds had gotten a bit more fierce, rain more frequent. Younger ponies had complained, mostly about the spring festival being ruined by the cruel whims of fate and clouds, but not much commentary had passed otherwise.

Then, the clouds had come, but hadn't gone away. After weeks of no sun, even the flutter ponies, usually so fearless and confident in their magic, hadn't dared stray from their homes. Thunder and lightning growled and flashed over Dream Valley, though no rain came. Only darkness.

"We'll have to send someone for help," Galaxy said, staring up as if she could pierce the clouds with her sight, so desperate she was to see the stars again. Wind Whistler shuddered. Their last human companions had aged and died years ago.

In the timelessness of Dream Valley, the only regret was ever making mortal friends. No one spoke of funerals here; death was but a distant nightmare to the ponies, glimpsed only in the still bodies of fallen friends, gone on to that hazy, indistinct 'better place,' though no one could imagine a place any better than Dream Valley.

"But go where?" Wind Whistler asked. "Once, we had Meagan and the Pendant. Other times, the Golden Horseshoes. Now even the Flutter Ponies' magic cannot dispel this ill-omened sky. Who can we go to for help?"

Galaxy continued to stare into the roiling darkness, horn glowing as her intuition worked its magic. "To the ones that sent the darkness," she said finally, her voice like a distant dream. "Send Firefly west, to the metal palace beyond the distant mountains."

Wind Whistler pranced, aghast. "What? Alone? You cannot mean that; it is far too dangerous!" She pulled back when Galaxy stomped a very final hoof on the cobbles.

There was silence. Wind Whistler bowed her head. Once, this would have been decided by committee. Now, it seemed that Galaxy ran the circus. Wind Whistler could feel the resentment inside her, and silenced, letting it boil.

"Send Firefly," Galaxy said again. "She is quick and brave. After all, she was the one who brought us Megan. She may be lucky again."

"What if she fails?" Wind Whistler asked, her voice full of false timidity.

"I have the feeling she will not. Give her the pendant; it must be our token of goodwill."

Wind Whistler repressed the urge to twitch. The _Pendant?_ That was like saying, "Here, take the Golden Horseshoes and toss them over that cliff there." But, she had no choice but to obey. Without the other ponies to back her up, she was a force of one against Galaxy, whose magic was becoming absolute. Wind Whistler bowed her head, and turned to do her task, refusing to notice how the celestial marking on Galaxy's rump had begun, slowly, to turn.

* * *

In the Courtyard, Kurama sat cross-legged in front of the pony- sorry, _Pegasus Pony, _designated Firefly. He was having odd thoughts as the candy-colored creature babbled and paced, tossing her overlarge head and stamping disturbingly undetailed hooves.

_Only children think horses look like this_, he thought, bracing his chin on his hands, elbows on knees. She was on now about the History of Ponyland and the Exodus from Flutter Valley. He'd lost track somewhere when she'd explained that the non-child friendly named Licketysplit had run away after tripping during rehearsal for the Spring Festival.

_Horses don't have Spring Festivals,_ he mused on that tangent. _Not that I know of, anyway. They all just run around and eat hay. Sometimes we eat them. _However, though Firefly looked like she had been molded out of marzipan and fondant, Kurama wouldn't want to try sinking his teeth into one of her kind. After the first thousand years of life, you begin to realize the benefits of good dental hygiene. He didn't want to be the only demon around pushing three thousand with cavities from sugar ponies.

"And now the clouds won't go away so Wind Whistler said I have to find help and I found you and have this."

It was _beautiful_. Only in retrospect, of course, but it was a beautiful on par with Yuusuke, where you couldn't really tell if it was expert planning or just pure dumb luck that got things to happen his way all the time. It was like that, apparently, with Firefly. When she swung her bloated, malformed head in Kurama's direction, a bright red heart-shaped pendant went sailing through the air and over his head, pausing to stick jauntily around one fox-like ear until it slipped down around his neck.

There was a flash of light, the smell of pink, and then, the world went... bigger.

Someone behind him sounded like they were stifling a laugh. Kurama looked at his hands.

Eventually, something like this _had_ to happen.

"Chuu," he said, holding out a hand and ignoring the changed timbre of his own voice. "Give me some of that wine you have.

Someone snorted.

Someone said, "Are you sure you're old enough?" Probably Jin. His ears were ringing.

Kurama decided it was best to put the request in more direct terms. "Give me. The fucking wine." A bottle was placed obediently in his hand. The pony gasped at his inflammatory language. Kurama leaned back and took a generous gulp of the heavy wine, coughed once into his free hand, and gave the bottle back. "Thank you. How bad is it?"

"Well, we're gonna need to find you some new clothes," Chuu said, corking the bottle with some reverence and placing it in his belt.

"Get me something old of Shura's. Make sure it has been washed and pressed, please. Jin, Shishi, take our guest to the clean cells. Leave some water and, what do you eat?" The last was directed at Firefly, whose massive eyes were fixed on him in a glazed expression of horror and contrition.

"Uh, apples are okay," she managed.

Kurama waved a hand. "Strike that and take her to the arboretum. I'm going to my office." He shifted slightly, adjusted his now far too large jacket around himself, and stalked across the courtyard. He tried not to let his ego drag as much as he too-long tail now was.

Shura's clothes fit well enough that they could have been tailored, which was a blessing. Kurama had gotten used to his official uniform (even if it did seem a little militaristic for a country whose main dealings were in exported staples) and felt vulnerable without it. The uniform was the overt symbol of his official capacity and lack of power. He was not the king, but he had just enough influence to make people fear, guess, and treat him nicely just in case Yomi and Shura met unfortunate ends. It, and the liquor, made him feel far more comfortable than he would have under normal circumstances.

"So," he murmured, catching his reflection in the window. "This is what it feels like to be a child."

His hair had gone red again. Not the ambiguous, dark red he'd worn in his human form, but the wild red of foxfur he'd had when he was far too young to remember. He'd never been able to take a humanoid form in his earliest years - the years he seemed to inhabit now - but this is what he'd look like had he the ability. Sharp features in a childish frame, something not-quite-human in the eyes, but wildly demonstrated in the ears and tail.

He looked like a goddamn Hello Kitty mascot. He scowled. The expression was absolutely precious and he hated it. He couldn't do anything that wasn't cute now. It was _awful._

Firefly shifted nervously behind him.

"And I cannot remove the pendant, yes?"

"Um," the pegasus looked down, ashamed. "Y-yeah. That's right."

He sighed, closed his eyes, and turned to face the pony.

"And the conditions of this arrangement are that I accompany you to this 'Dream Valley' in order to... make the sun come back. Is that correct?" He lifted an eyebrow. Firefly turned her head quizzically and glanced at Jin, who nodded at her.

"Yeah. Right."

"Upon which time your... Galaxy will perform some magic that will remove the pendant's hold on me and allow me to revert to my normal body."

The pony nodded. Kurama sighed again.

"I suppose at this juncture I have no choice to comply. Jin," the Wind Master perked up, grinning toothily at him. Kurama repressed a smirk. "_Touya_ is my second in command until I return. Take your orders from him." Touya, who had wandered in to get a glimpse of the amazing candy pony, snickered. Kurama nodded, and turned to Firefly.

The pony stood, and, with as much dignity as he could muster, Kurama climbed onto her back. He shrugged at his assembled team. "Guess I'll see you. Pray I don't go insane."

With that, neon-pink pony and somberly clad fox child sped off into the night, through the darkness to save Ponyland.

* * *

AN-  
No, I don't know why I'm doing this. Maybe it's because of TVTropes. Maybe because I needed to crossover something really stupid. Maybe I wanted to write pony-filled melodrama (like a jelly donut, only more angst!)

_Maybe because I love to torture Kurama._  
Yeah. Thinking it's the last one there.


	2. Chapter 2

My Little Kurama

Chapter Two

* * *

The thing about ponies was...

The thing about ponies _was..._

_The thing about ponies is,_ Kurama thought, _is that they really don't get things like atmosphere. _Like the atmosphere up here, in the sky. In the dark, stormy sky where it was freezing cold and the only light, the _only_ light, mind you, came from...

Gods, he couldn't even force himself to think it. The description would have to be solely the responsibility of narrative.

The only light in the sky came from Firefly, glowing in pinky-blue phosphorescence against the black clouds. Well, that and the lightning, but it was mostly from Firefly. Firefly the pegasus pony. On whom Kurama, a 2000-something year old demon shoved into the body of a child was inexpertly mounted.

Kurama pulled his mind back from detached narrative and sighed, adjusting so he could look down beyond himself and Firefly. There wasn't anything to see, of course, just the dark earth under a dark sky, but something, far in the distance was sparking. He hoped it was a fire, but considering the way things had been going lately, he was dreadfully sure that it was the glow of magic protecting...

_Oh, just muscle through it. You are completely capable of suspending your disbelief for long enough to accept that you're riding on a magical caricature of a horse through an impossible sky. _He told himself this with no small amount of self-hatred. _It is perfectly logical, under these circumstances, to accept that you're on your way to Dream Castle to help save the ponies._

Yuusuke, rest his mad soul, would have laughed himself sick. Hiei would have waited a few seconds after that explanation to allow Kurama a prayer before being demonically euthanized. Kuwabara would have thought it cute.

Kuwabara would have been a much better person for this job.

But Kuwabara was long dead alas, and so the ponies had come to him.

Kurama nearly leaned forward to speak to Firefly, but then remembered that, unlike cold, the pony seemed impervious to more than just enough wind to set their hair fluttering about behind them. Talking would be easy-peasy. Trying not to think of how physics was being hurt in new and unsettling ways would not be.

"That's Dream Valley, then?" he asked, pointing in the vague direction of the spark... the _sparkling_ on the near horizon.

"Yeah, we're almost there. Um, I think I'll have to take you to see Wind Whistler first. That pendant was Megan's, and they were, um... close."

Kurama said nothing. That 'um... close' at the end worried him, and he hoped that 'close' for ponies only extended to horseback ridi- okay. There was no way to think about that without _some_ kind of innuendo so he was just going to stop right now.

The rest of the journey passed with tense silence. Firefly was focusing on flying (he hoped) and he was focused on... what, exactly? He had no information beyond The Magical Ponies of Dream Valley Are In Trouble and Need Help. Nothing more. His entire world, right now at this moment, revolved around what could have been the premise of a Sunday morning cartoon for 5-12 year old girls.

It could have been _anything_ else. In fact there was a tiny, stuttering and nearly dead part of him that still kind of wished that, his life of demons and afterlife bureaucracy aside, something really cool like giant autonomous transforming robots would fall on earth and there would be things like high-flying adventure and swashbuckling.

Instead, he got the ponies. Wow, some guys just had all the luck.

* * *

"There they are!" Spike, having taking post as lookout, waved his signal flag and pointed to the speck in the sky that was Firefly and, hopefully, their savior and New Friend. He could hardly remember the last time they'd had a New Friend.

Buttons and Sweet Stuff skidded to a halt on the parapet beside him.

"I see them," Sweet Stuff gasped, her voice lost under the clattering happy prancing Buttons was demonstrating at the moment.

"I knew it, I knew it, I _knew_ Firefly wouldn't let us down! Didn't I know?" She punched Spike with a forehoof. "Yes, as a matter of fact, I _did_ know."

Spike forced a laugh and shooed the ponies aside. Unicorn and Earth pony alike clattered back, making room for Firefly and the New Friend to land. None of them noticed Wind Whistler until she was beside them, staring up at the ever-nearing speck of Firefly.

"O-oh, Wind Whistler," Spike stuttered, grabbing and twisting his tail nervously. He may no longer be considered a "baby" dragon, but he'd never really... grown up. No one was more aware of this than him.

"Someone should tell Galaxy," Wind Whistler said, giving a pointed look to Buttons and Sweet Stuff. Buttons sniffed, Sweet Stuff shrank. Both of them got the message and trudged away. Spike watched Wind Whistler nervously. Whatever she wanted to talk about... couldn't be good.

"Do you trust Galaxy?"

Spike kept his mouth shut to keep from stuttering, let the sentence form entirely, and took a breath.

"Don't you?" It wasn't just the stutter that kept him from arbitrarily tossing out that line. Wind Whistler could be fierce when she was angry, and her being angry was becoming a common occurrence.

Wind Whistler stamped, and glared at him out of the corner of her eye. "I trust Galaxy to... act in a way according to her usual behavior."

"So, you don't trust her." Spike sighed heavily. "It was her idea to send Firefly to..."

"Yes, it was."

Heavy silence situated itself comfortably between them. Firefly was very nearly arrived with the New Friend.

"I wonder what she will be like," Spike mused. "Our New Friend, I mean, if she comes from _there_..._"_

"Even the Care Bears wouldn't be able to make a child from _that_ place care about our plight," Wind Whistler said icily. For all that they and the Color Kids were allies, they had been particularly useless lately, once the clouds had come. "I'm sure Firefly made it past that border and found us someone worthy of the pendant."

_So much for the power of friendship,_ Spike thought sadly, and stepped back to allow Firefly to land. Ponies had been gathering in the courtyard of Dream Castle, making a rainbow of worried faces.

Firefly clattered to a stop, her passenger, the New Friend, falling gracelessly from her back in a tangle of red and black... stuff.

It wasn't a color combination that inspired hope.

The New Friend straightened and brushed herself off, pulling red hair back from her face. Firefly, after catching her breath, beamed at Spike and Wind Whistler.

"Everyone, this is our New Friend-" she stuttered, and looked at the New Friend, who was busy trying to... did she have a _tail?_ Was that what she was trying to shove behind her? And those ears... "Um, I'm sorry, I didn't even ask what your name was."

The New Friend sighed, cast a glance out over the landscape, and pulled a bit of a face. Spike felt that old familiar feeling of dread return.

"My name is Kurama," the New Friend said, and the assembled ponies, minus a very solemn-looking Wind Whistler, went wild. Some of them charged up the stairs to the parapet to get a better look, crowding around Kurama, who seemed both irritated and unnerved. Ponies by the handful crowded around to introduce themselves. He caught a glimpse of Wind Whistler through the mob as she pulled and exhausted Firefly to the side. he would have stepped in there, but was distracted by the squeals of delight as Kurama was led off for a 'grand tour' of Dream Castle.

Spike sighed one more time, carefully set down the signal flag he'd been clutching like a shield, and followed Kurama and the Ponies down into the Castle.

* * *

Licketysplit, Ribbon, Buttons, Sweet Stuff, Heart Throb... Kurama tried not to think of all these as high school hooker names while he followed the horribly named creatures through the endlessly pastel interior of Dream Castle.

He couldn't bash it too much, really. If there was going to be a place called 'Dream Castle' or Dream Valley or Ponytopia or whatever, he'd expect it to be a place with enough pink to supply all the tootsietramps in the world for the next few centuries. The place was very, very much a girl's dream.

He glanced to his side, where the pink 'Dragon' (like no dragon he'd seen before; Kokoryuuha would have shriveled up in embarrassment to be associated with a 'dragon' such as this) was ambling along beside him. 'Spike' had apparently grown up with the ponies, effectively providing a massive argument for the Nurture park of the Nature versus Nurture debates. Either that or he was a Dragon who had gotten a firm F in being an _actual dragon._

Kurama forced a smile.

"I have to confess, I'm not sure exactly what I'm supposed to be doing here," he said, trying to strike up a conversation that wouldn't be variations of 'tee-hee' and 'gosh.'

"Well," Spike scratched behind an ear, glancing Kurama up and down. Kurama guessed the dragon couldn't quite get over the ears and the tail. "To be honest, neither do I. We're just relying on the old formula of send out the pendant and hope the right person comes back."

Kurama inclined his head and forced the smile to stay on. "I see. And... this has worked before?"

Spike nodded solemnly. "With our first Friend, Megan. She helped save the Ponies from Midnight Castle, and brought me here. She was wonderful." His overlarge eyes had gone misty with nostalgia. He lifted a claw and, to Kurama's horror, wiped away a single, crystalline tear. When the dragon flicked the tear away, it melted into the decorations of the Castle like it was meant to be there.

_Oh great gods. _Kurama's jaw fell open slightly. _They bedazzled this place with their tears._

Spike sniffed, and then rallied, smiling encouragingly down at Kurama, who wanted to find a dark hole to climb into and die. "Don't worry. You have to be Pure of Heart to carry the pendant. You'll be just fine!"

The absolute untruth of that statement should have caused the world to cave in with the sheer power of its dishonesty. There was not so much as a stirring of breeze.

Kurama opened his mouth to speak, and was cut off by an explosion of noise. Noise and chartreuse.

"SURPRISE!"

And it _was_ a surprise. One of the pegasi, a white one with eye-bleedingly yellow-green hair knocked him on his ass, hooves planted firmly on his chest.

"YOU'RE OUR NEW FRIEND I BET," the pegusus screamed, it's manic grin instilling Kurama with more fear than he'd felt facing down Sensui. No demon, no matter how evil, fearless, or thoroughly badass, would be able to stand tall and unfettered in the presence of so much aggressive cuteness. Cuteness and a lot more weight Kurama didn't even try. He shrank against the floor and forced a grin of his own.

"Y-yes, yes I am. My name is-"

"Her name is Kurama!" Licketysplit cut in, shoving the surprising pegasus aside. The lavender pony scowled at the Pegasus, who scuffed a hoof sheepishly. Horseishly. ...sheepishly. Something. Wait, she?

"Actually, I'm not a-"

"Listen, Baby Surprise," Licketysplit was saying, nudging the pegasus aside, "Kurama's got a lot of important things to do, like save the world. So you can go surprise the bushwoolies with how surprising you are, kay?" The little pegasus seemed to accept that, and bounded off, followed by a few more like-minded ponies.

Kurama stared. "I have two things to say at this juncture," he said, glancing between the remaining ponies - Licketysplit and Sweet Stuff - and Spike. "The first, though somewhat less important, is going to have to be what the hell is a bushwoolie?"

Licketysplit surprised him by uttering a sardonic snort. "A bunch of morons completely incapable of individual thought," she said with a roll of her eyes. Kurama made a flash decision, and put Licketysplit down on the list of 'Ponies to like.' It was a short list. "They pretty much exist to be soft and cute for the babies to play with."

Sweet Stuff, who up until then hadn't said much of anything, mumbled shyly, "I like them."

Licketysplit rolled her eyes again. "Well of course _you_ do. They're the only ones who don't make you-"

"Let's," Spike brought a paw down between them and forced a happy smile, "just leave it at that for now. What was the second thing you wanted to say, Kurama?"

Awkward Silence lifted up its skirts to run in on cue.

"I'm not a girl."

* * *

AN

Oh god why won't it stop.

(edited for breaks/spelling errors. More on the way)


End file.
